PROJECT SUMMARY The primary aim of the Recruitment Core will be to recruit and support two mid-level or senior faculty members with established health equity research programs to fill gaps in institutional expertise, and to support the mission of SHERC. As such, the Recruitment Core is responsible for designing and conducting effective and viable recruitment strategies to attract diverse pools of qualified applicants, including members of historically underrepresented groups, to consider positions at NAU. To do this, the Recruitment Core will work closely with the campus Chief Diversity Officer (Dr. Phelps), Affirmative Action Office, as well as developing position announcements that point to the merits of NAU's Diversity Strategic Plan. This plan prioritizes our institutional commitment to becoming increasingly diverse, and communicates the opportunities that exist on our campus for faculty and scholars to contribute to our efforts. We will ensure that our campus culture is welcoming and supportive of diversity by measuring the effectiveness of the initiatives described above through the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative data gathering processes. These evaluation methods will assess the experiences of senior and junior faculty as well as scholars identifying as members of historically underrepresented groups. Such processes will allow us to remain informed about the needs, concerns, and experiences, of our faculty and scholars, whom we intend to support and retain as valuable contributing members of our campus community. We also aim to 1) support the new hires in establishing collaborative and independent health equity research programs at Northern Arizona University; and 2) incorporate the new hires into SHERC as collaborators, mentors, and leaders.